Ladle Rat Rotten Hut (12 page)

It was Christmas Eve, the night that changed my life – well,
not just mine.

“You know why today is a special day?” My mother asked over
the kitchen table. I was playing with a butterfly I kept in a jar.

“It’s Christmas, mother,” I hoorayed, spreading my arms in
the air. “Will you let me chop a Christmas tree this year? I want to chop
trees,” I pulled out one of our strange tree cutting tools, which was made of wood
and an arched blade. “Chop. Chop. Chop.” I waved the tool, swooshing in the
air. It was a dangerous thing to do, but somehow my mother didn’t mind.

“Put that down,” She said. “You’ll hurt yourself.”

“But you never hurt yourself, mother,” I said, making a sad
face. “and you have a lot of these weapons.”

My mother laughed, “They are not weapons. They are
tree-cutting tools. I use them to take care of our garden.”

“So will you let me? Please. Please. Pleath?”

“I will,” She smiled, not looking one day older than me. My
mother looked like she was sixteen years old. Always did. Always will. How did
a funny, perky, and fun-loving  woman like her still look so young? I surely
wished I’d still looked that young when I grew older. When my mother went out
to the forest, she tried her best to look older, sometimes not combing her hair
and not taking care of her face. Her best trick was hiding under the shades of
her yellow hood. “But first, I have to tell you how special today is.” She said.

“I already know,” I put the tool away. “It’s Christmas, the
24
^th
day in December.”

“Smart girl. And what else?”

“We get to chop a Christmas tree, and light it up with
candles inside the house,” I scratched my head. “We should invite relatives and
celebrate…” I raised my hands in the air, ready to jump, but then stopped,
“something?” My eyes crossed without me wanting to. It happened momentarily. I was
used to it. The squirrels laughed at me when this happened, but my mother said
that it was part of my charm, being perky and lovable – and occasionally
cross-eyed? Maybe.  “But what is it that we’re celebrating on the 24
^th
,
mother?”

“A lot of things,” She said. “But there is one thing that
you should know about, because it concerns you.”

“What? You’re celebrating me?” I said happily. No one
celebrated me before.

“I’d celebrate you every day of my life, darling. You’re
just irresistible,” She chewed on the last words. My mother loved me, but
sometimes I felt that I annoyed her, as if she wanted to choke me, crumble me,
and crash me like the fortune cookies on the table. Crash. Crash. Crash.
Thankfully, it didn’t happen often. “December the 24
^th
is the also
the 358
^th
day of the year.” She explained.

“So?”

“If you add 3 plus 5 plus 8, you get the number sixteen.
Your age.”

“I just turned sixteen in October.”

“That’s why it’s important. In our family, each year when
one of us turns sixteen, they inherit the family’s most cherished job.”

When she said our family, I had to look around because it
was always only her and me, unless the squirrel in the garden and the
butterflies were my cousins. “You mean
your
job?” I wondered.

My mother nodded.

“You mean I finally get to go out to the forest?” I was
speechless, my eyes wide open. I’ve been trapped in this house for years. I wasn’t
allowed to go beyond the garden. Only few days a year, I was permitted to go
buy bread from the market in exchange of our crops from the garden. My mother
claimed I was too young to go out to the scary world. She said I was young and
inexperienced, and that strangers were bad people. Of course, I had never
entered the forest, which wasn’t only full of strangers, but wolves.

The reason I never told her about the wolves at my window
was that I was afraid she’d worry more about me, and I would end up living my
life locked in a closet, or in a jar like my butterfly. She was too protective
of me.

“Yes,” My mother confirmed. “Today, on the 358
^th
day of the year, you will go into the forest.” She said, sounding a little
worried though.

“So will I get a basket full of cakes and wine like you
do?” I was so excited to go out and follow my mother’s footsteps. I became
older now, and it was time to be responsible and help the
family
.

“There are things I have to teach you first,” My mother
said. “Let’s start with the tree outside, shall we?” My mother held my hand and
led me to the garden, which was usually full of squirrels waiting for the
falling fortune cookie. Somehow, if they touched one, they screamed as if it
shocked them, so they just danced and squeaked around it. “Pick this one up.”
My mother pointed at today’s fallen cookie, sounding tense.

I did, looking at it as if it were a golden egg.

“Can I crack it open?” I asked. My palms were sweaty.
Finally, I was about to know what was written inside, and understand why my
mother went to the forest.

“Better do it on the kitchen table,” She said. “Walk back
carefully so you don’t trip on any of those tree-cutting tools.”

I did, wondering when she’d permit me to cut a Christmas
tree myself. But right now, the cookie was of more importance. I placed it on
the table and cracked it open with a ladle.

I hated ladles because my mom liked to call me Ladle,
instead of my real name. What was wrong with my real name? Well, it was spooky,
but it was she who had given it to me.

Crack. Crack. Crack. Awesome. The fortune cookie split
open.

As I picked up the crumbled paper, my mother wrapped her
fingers around it, looking into my eyes, “Before you read the paper, I will
tell you what you should expect.”

“Hmm…” I nodded, wondering why my mother’s grip was tight.

“Everyday when I read the paper from the cookie, I read a
name.”

“A name?” I wondered. “So it’s not like, ‘today is your
lucky day’ or, ‘you’ll meet a tall, dark, and handsome prince’?”

“No. It’s someone’s name that is written on the paper.” My
mother lowered her head, looking serious.

“And?”
Ok. I didn’t think it was an elephant’s name,
mother. Go on.

“This tree outside in the garden is a very special tree.
It’s called the Tree of Life.”

“The Tree of Life?”
I repeated after her like a dizzy parrot.
Why all the seriousness in her
tone?

“The Tree of Life sends us a name everyday. A name of
someone we should take care of. It’s a blissful and honored doing.”

“So that’s why you pick up cakes and wine, and go to the
forest? You mean you give it to someone in the forest? Someone with the name
from the cookie? This is amazing, mother. I am so proud of you.” I was almost
tapping my feet.

“It’s not exactly like that,” My mother said. “But it’s
close. You’re a big sixteen-year-old girl now. And since it’s your first day,
you will have to bring cakes and wine to the person with the name in the
fortune cookie.”

“Are they poor, mother?” I lean forward, feeling for them.
“They must be poor, right? Or why would we be helping them?” We were poor, but
I heard there were poorer.

“We don’t know if they’re poor. We just do our part in the universe,
and we don’t ask. It’s a noble job. I inherited it from my mother, and now you
inherit it from me. Still, you have to do this the right way. If you mess this
up, you will not be worthy of the job, and we won’t be able to bring bread to
the table. Understood? You will have to deliver the wine and cakes today.”

I nodded as she released my hand.

With cautious fingers, I flattened the paper on the table.
Why did I feel uneasy about this all of a sudden? It’s just a name of someone I
never met before. Someone I didn’t know.

But I did.

I did. I did. I did.

With an open mouth, I turned to look at my mother who had
read the name with me.

“I don’t believe it,” I said. “Isn’t this a little
strange?”

“It is
very
strange.” My mother folded her arms in
front of her, gazing at the Tree of Life outside, as if longing for answers.

“But it is also amazing,” I clapped my hands, feeling a
surge of excitement lifting me up. “I am going to finally see my granma.
Finally. I haven’t seen her since I was six.”

“It’s grandma, not
granma
,” My mother sighed,
sitting down as if the weight of the world were on her shoulders. “I didn’t
expect this,” She looked up to me. Wait. She was looking a little higher. She
was almost talking to the ceiling.
Whom was she talking to?
“But we
always obey the Tree of Life. Are you sure you can do this?” She asked.

“Bring cakes and wine to my granma in the forest?
Absolutely!” I couldn’t think of an easier job to do.
Mother, your job
wasn’t that hard.

“Your grandma hasn’t seen any of us for many years,” My
mother explained, sounding as if warning me. I wondered from what. “In fact,
she hasn’t seen
anyone
for many years, living in her isolated small
house in the forest. A house that is too hard to find.”

“Oh?” I swallowed. I heard the forest itself was like a
huge maze where kids lose their way everyday. A house that was hard to find in
such a forest sounded a little too complicated for a girl’s first day on the
job.

“But you can do it,” My mother patted me. “Right?”

I didn’t say a word. Of course, I can do it. But the way my
mother held my hands worried me. She was too gentle, as if sympathizing with
me.

“Why doesn’t grandma live with us?” The thought popped in
my head. She was my father’s mother, and I had never seen my father. “Why did
she leave? And why does she live in the forest?”

“Your grandma has her reasons,” Mother was a bad liar.
Something wasn’t right. “Now listen to me carefully. It’s important that you
don’t talk to strangers on your way to her. Understood?”

“I know, mother,” I puffed. “You’re not going to warn me of
wolves again.”
Did I ever tell you that I scared them in my room?

“They are nasty and sly creatures,” My mother said. “They
could deceive you. You have to promise me to walk your way to your grandma
without stopping for anything. Anything. You understand?”

Understood? Do you understand? Do as you
are told.
I hated these
phrases. Didn’t she know they were all the same?

“I understand, mother. Don’t worry,” Then another idea came
to me. An idea I liked very much. “Can I wear a red hood on my way?” I asked
with eagerness.
That would have been so amazing. Besides, the wolves were
scared of the color red.

“What’s wrong with you?” My mother snapped, letting go of my
hands. “Second thoughts, it might not be a good idea for you to go out,” She
sighed. “But you
have
to.” She changed her mind twice within seconds,
looking at the tree outside again.

“What did I do wrong?” It seemed like whenever I was about
to finally leave the house, I always did something wrong, stopping me from
seeing the beautiful world outside.

“Don’t you know that red is a forbidden color now in the Kingdom of Sorrow?”

“It is?” I looked sideways at one of my squirrel friends.
It occurred to me that I wasn’t ready to go outside today. Staying at home for
too long made me ignorant of many things in life.

“It is,” My mother nodded with lines of embarrassment on
her forehead. “The color red is prohibited for reasons I shall tell you about
later.”

“Is it because it’s the color of blood?”

“No. I said I will explain later.”

“Ok,” I shrugged. “So what should happen if I wear the
color red?”

“You will be hunted and killed,” She approached me and shook
me by the shoulders.

“Killed by the good people or the bad people?” I said, one eye
closed, trying to imitate her seriousness.

“Does it even matter? Red is the color of…”

“What?” I wanted to know about the color that scared the
wolves away.

“It just prohibited. That’s all you have to know.”

“But wine is red, mother.”

“The wine is hidden in a bottle, and goes straight to your
stomach. It’s forbidden to pour red wine in transparent glasses. If wine is
spilled on a dress, it is considered forbidden too. The kingdom is facing hard times,
and we have to follow the rules.”

“All right, mother. Then what should I wear?”

“You will wear a white hood. The one you used to wear when
you were ten.”

“But that one is too small.”

“I’ve sewn new clothes to it. It’s bigger now, and you will
love it.” She said, approaching me with serene eyes. “You remember that hood?”

“I do,” I said as she buried my face in her chest. I was
much shorter than her. “The one I used to wear when I hid in the snow from you,
playing hide and seek when I was a kid.”

It was true. Whenever I played with my mother and wanted to
hide from her, I wore the white hood and buried myself in the snow. It was a
perfect hiding place. Even when she walked right over me, she couldn’t find me.
All I needed was to hold my breath as long as possible, and it seemed like I
could hold my breath forever. My mother never questioned how I did it. I was
gifted.